Israel-Hamas war: What happened on day 83?

The IDF announced on Thursday that it will not take any current action against soldiers who mistakenly killed three Israeli hostages on December 15 who were waving a white flag, screamed “help” in Hebrew, and were bare from the waist up .

The three, named Yotam Chaim, Samer Talalka, and Alon Shamriz, were all taken hostage during Hamas’s October 7 massacre against southern Israeli communities.

In publishing the results of its final probe into the issue, the IDF said that despite the soldiers clearly violating the rules of engagement – by firing on persons who presented no immediate danger and were waving a white flag – the enormous complexity of the circumstances led to no immediate punishment.

Soldiers who killed hostages to remain in Gaza

IDF sources suggested that once the war was over it was possible that disciplinary or other action might theoretically be taken against some of the soldiers involved, but in the meantime the soldiers are being left to continue to fight in the field.

The IDF legal division also technically can second-guess the IDF chief, but that is a very rare occurrence.

IDF infographic on the location of the killed Gaza hostages (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

Also, with it being ambiguous when the war will be “over,” given discussions of higher and lower intensity stages, it seems that no action will be taken for the foreseeable future.

Already back on December 16, IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi had signaled this would be the direction he would go in.

Back then he had also said that the soldiers had violated open fire rules, but on the other hand he had not mentioned even removing them from combat without any formal penalty.

Also, at the time the IDF legal division sidestepped addressing the issue, pending the IDF chief’s probe.

But there have been cases where initial evidence was strong enough to launch an initial criminal probe and where the soldiers involved were immediately arrested and questioned under caution - which was not done here.   

The incident happened in the Shejaia neighborhood of Gaza City, an area of intense combat where Hamas terrorists have been operating in civilian attire and used complex deception tactics.

Some of those tactics have included trying to use white flags, stuffed animals, or seemingly harmless women to get IDF soldiers to approach an area, where some other terrorists then opens fire or sets off a remote explosive device.

According to the final IDF probe, around six Hamas fighters had been killed or observed recently by IDF forces along the line of travel which the three hostages likely took based on the multiple locations where the IDF has established they definitely spent time.

Some of the Hamas terrorists were killed by infantry, one by a tank, and one by a drone.

All of this information was in the minds of the soldiers involved in killing the three hostages.

Details of the IDF's investigation into the killings

The final probe found that the soldiers opened fire on the three at a distance of 38 meters where the hostages were standing at a window one floor up from the ground level of a house.

According to the high command’s understanding of the open fire rules, such a distance and without seeing any weapon, and certainly seeing a white flag and a bare upper body disqualifying the likelihood of explosives, there was no reasonable way to argue the soldiers could have felt threatened.

The building in which the Gaza hostages where hiding (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)

However, the soldiers argued that they were given additional instructions from local commanders in the field about what was considered a threat and when to fire, and that 38 meters and suspicious activity from a window fell within those open fire rules.

Further, given the many fake surrender traps Hamas has set throughout the war, including using Hebrew, white flags, and actual children’s items seized by Hamas in Israel on October 7, Halevi and other commanders seem to be willing to recognize the subjective sense of danger felt by the soldiers involved as valid enough to avoid immediate punishment.

Controversially, the first soldier who opened fire has admitted that he did see the white flag, but still felt it was a trap and that he was in danger.

The extensive damage caused by Israel's airstrike on the Maghazi refugee camp in Gaza on Sunday night was a mistake, according to an IDF military official who spoke to KAN news on Thursday morning. 

The official told KAN that, following an internal IAF investigation, it came out that the type of weaponry used did not match the nature of the mission. As a result, there was extensive collateral damage that did not need to occur and could have been avoided if the correct weaponry had been used. 

Israeli security forces were active overnight on Wednesday in Gaza and the West Bank, according to IDF statements released on Thursday morning. 

Twenty-one suspects were arrested overnight in the West Bank by the Lahav 433 National Crime Unit in a joint operation with Israel's National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing of Israel, the Shin Bet, and several other government and military organizations. Those arrested are accused of being involved in the financing of Hamas terror activity. 

Israel has returned the bodies of 80 Palestinians killed in the Israeli-Hamas conflict in Gaza, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said on Wednesday.

Israel said it was returning the bodies after confirming that they were not Israeli hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7.

The IDF published Thursday the names of three soldiers who fell in battle in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

Sgt.-First Class (res.) Asaf Pinhas Tubul, 22, from Kiryat Motzkin, fell in battle in the southern Gaza Strip and served in the 77th Armored Battalion of the 7th Brigade. An officer and a soldier were seriously wounded in battle alongside Tubul as well.

Cpt. (res.) Neriya Zisk, 24, from Masu'ot Itzhak, fell in battle in the central Gaza Strip and served as a company commander in the 52nd Battalion of the 401st Brigade.

Maj. Dvir David Fima, 32, from Kfar Yona, fell in battle in the central Gaza Strip and served as a deputy commander of the 198th Battalion in the 460th Brigade. A soldier was seriously wounded in battle alongside Fima.

People gather and light candles to remember the Israeli victims of the October 7 massacre at Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv, October 12, 2023. (credit: Dor Pazuelo/Flash90)

Since the war between Israel and Hamas began, 501 IDF soldiers have fallen in battle.

A Palestinian man was killed and several others were injured amid clashes with Israeli forces in Ramallah in the West Bank early Thursday morning, according to Palestinian reports.

Clashes were reported in several cities throughout the West Bank on Wednesday night, including in Jericho, Halhul, Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nablus. At least nine Palestinians were injured in clashes in Halhul overnight, according to Palestinian reports.

In Jenin, one Palestinian was moderately injured and two others were lightly injured in an Israeli drone strike, according to Palestinian media.

A kamikaze drone hit an open area in the southern Golan Heights on Wednesday night, with the Iran-backed militias in Iraq claiming responsibility for the attack.

No injuries were reported in the incident, although damage was caused to a building.

The Iran-backed militias in Iraq said that they launched the drone toward a site near the town of Eliad in the Golan Heights "in support of Gaza."

This is the first case of an explosive drone falling in the Golan Heights during the war.

Iraqi Shi'ite Muslim men from the Iranian-backed group Kataib Hezbollah wave the party's flags as they walk along a street painted in the colours of the Israeli flag during a parade marking the annual Quds Day, or Jerusalem Day, on the last Friday of Ramadan, in Baghdad. July 25, 2014 (credit: THAIER AL-SUDANI/REUTERS)

The Iran-backed militias in Iraq also claimed responsibility for an attack near the Erbil International Airport earlier on Wednesday. The militias said that they targeted a site belonging to the US-led coalition.

Iraqi militias involvement in the Israel-Hamas war

The Iraqi militias have also claimed several times since the war began that they launched drones toward Eilat.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke Wednesday evening with French President Emmanuel Macron, the Prime Minister's Office said in a statement.

Netanyahu thanked Macron for France's involvement in protecting freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and for its willingness to help restore security on Israel's border with Lebanon, the statement said.

The prime minister updated Macron on developments in the war in Gaza, as well as efforts to bring about the release of Israel's hostages, and asked the French president to continue working for their release. 

"Netanyahu made it clear that the people and the government of Israel are determined to work to return the residents in the North and South to their homes, by any means," the statement concluded. 

PRESIDENT ISAAC HERZOG makes a point to French President Emmanuel Macron at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, October 2023 (credit: OREN BEN HAKOON/FLASH90)

Calls for a 'durable' ceasefire

French President Emmanuel Macron told Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a call of the need to work towards a durable ceasefire "with the help of all regional and international partners," the French Presidency said in the statement.

France will also work with Jordan in days ahead on humanitarian operations in Gaza, it added.

Macron has criticized the scope of Israel's force against Hamas in the past and called for a lasting cessation of combat. 

"We cannot allow the idea to take root that an effective fight against terrorism implies razing Gaza or attacking civilian populations indiscriminately," Macron said in a December interview with the French broadcaster France 5.

While recognizing Israel's "right to defend itself and fight terrorism," Macron said that France called for the protection of civilians and "a ceasefire that will lead to a humanitarian ceasefire."

The US military's airstrikes on Monday in Iraq aimed to deter Iran and Iran-backed terror groups from conducting or supporting attacks on United States personnel and facilities, President Joe Biden said on Wednesday.

The US military carried out retaliatory air strikes on Monday in Iraq after a drone attack earlier in the day by Iran-aligned terrorists that left one US service member in critical condition and wounded two other US personnel.

The back-and-forth clash was the latest demonstration of how the war in Gaza between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas risks rippling across the Middle East.

U.S. army soldiers fuel a military truck at Qayyara airbase west of Mosul, Iraq, August 10, 2017 (credit: REUTERS/SUHAIB SALEM)

"The strikes were intended to degrade and disrupt the ongoing series of attacks against the United States and our partners, and to deter Iran and Iran-backed militia groups from conducting or supporting further attacks on United States personnel and facilities," Biden said in a letter on Wednesday to the top leaders of the US Congress.

"The United States stands ready to take further action, as necessary and appropriate, to address further threats or attacks."

Iran-aligned groups in Iraq and Syria oppose Israel's campaign in Gaza and hold the United States responsible due to its support for Israel.

The US strikes in Iraq likely killed "a number of Kataib Hezbollah militants" and destroyed facilities used by the group, the US military said.

Washington has also said Iran was "deeply involved" in planning operations against commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

Iran denies involvement in the attacks by the Houthis, who control much of Yemen including the capital and have since October attacked commercial vessels that they say have Israeli links, in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

Health officials in Hamas-run Gaza say over 21,000 people have died in Israel's offensive after Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people.

Hezbollah on Wednesday unleashed multiple rounds of rocket attacks and multiple drone strikes reaching approximately three dozen total attacks on Israel, reportedly the most the group has launched in one day since October 7.

While the attacks did not cause injuries, they caused significant damage in Kiryat Shmona and were also directed at Rosh Hanikra and Mount Dov.

The spike in attacks came after IDF strikes allegedly killed a Lebanese-Australian man, the man’s wife, the man’s brother who is a member of Hezbollah all in Lebanon, killed Sayyed Reza Mousavi, a senior commander in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), and as the IDF’s increased attacks have pushed back around half of Hezbollah’s forces from the border.

The IDF did not confirm the number of attacks by Hezbollah, but confirmed multiple rounds of rocket launches.

The IDF had been attacking Hezbollah overnight and continued to attack the terror group Wednesday morning and afternoon, both in response to the sources of the fire, but also in what appears to be a gradual effort to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure south of Lebanon’s Litani River.

Smoke rises during an exchange of fire between the IDF and terrorists from the Hezbollah organization on the border between Israel and Lebanon, December 27, 2023. (credit: Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

New operational plans

The rounds of exchanges of fire also came as IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi visited IDF Northern Commander Maj Gen, Uri Gordon and approved additional new unspecified operational plans.

Halevi also reiterated various messages about the IDF’s commitment to return security to the 80,000 or so Israeli northern residents who were evacuated from their homes in October.

The strike late on Tuesday on the Lebanese-Australian man hit a home in the town of Bint Jbeil, where the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah enjoys widespread support.

The Lebanese-Australian civilian man was identified by one of his relatives as Ibrahim Bazzi. His wife, a Lebanese national, also died. Hezbollah then announced the killing of Ali Bazzi, his brother and one of the Shi'ite Muslim group's fighters.

Asked about the incident, the Israeli military said one of its jets had struck a Hezbollah military site overnight in Lebanon. Australian media quoted a spokesperson for Australia's foreign ministry as saying it was aware of the report and was seeking confirmation.

Hezbollah launched the most rockets and weaponized drones against Israel on Wednesday that it has in a single day since the spate of daily clashes began, security sources said.

Israeli air strikes and shelling have killed more than 125 Hezbollah fighters, another 25 or so Palestinian terrorists in Lebanon, and according to Reuters nearly two dozen civilians, including children, elderly and several journalists.